signed 'J.E. Buttersworth' (lower right)
oil on board laid down on composite board
12 3/8 x 18 1/4 in. (31.4 x 46.4 cm.)

The New York Yacht Club's remarkable streak of successful defenses of the America's Cup for over a century lasted from 1870 to 1980 with 24 straight victories. The streak was due in no small part to the club's practice of holding defender selection trials starting in 1881. The trials honed the defender-candidate's sailing and tactical skills, and, most importantly, allowed the strongest team the opportunity to defend the Cup.

The present lot depicts the selection trials for the 1893 America's Cup defense. Vigilant, Colonia, Jubilee, and Pilgrim are depicted with Vigilant center. Vigilant and Colonia quickly demonstrated they were the fastest with the eventual winner being Vigilant. Designed and skippered by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, Vigilant launched June 14, 1893 by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol, Rhode Island. Vigilant was a centerboard sloop with all-metal (steel and bronze) construction. She was owned by a syndicate led by Charles Oliver Iselin.

James Edward Buttersworth witnessed the first 9 defenses of the America's Cup between 1870 and 1893 as well as the associated trial races. Based on the number of paintings he produced of this rich subject matter, there was certainly demand. In this work, Buttersworth uses his characteristic dramatic skies with threatening clouds on the horizon to set the scene in Trials for Contenders. The sea is choppy and has a deep greenish blue mystery to enhance the moment and remind the viewer of the danger inherent in the event. The offhand mastery of the mature Buttersworth is on display in accurate rigging and lines – which don't distract from the scene but rather enhance it.

Vigilant would go on to face Lord Dunraven's Valkyrie II in the 1893 America's Cup. The race was performed in a best three out of five races format sailed on alternating courses. Vigilant won the first three races, the third was the closest with a margin of only 40 seconds; at the time, this final race of the series was reported as the fastest race ever sailed. Vigilant's successful defense was the first of several victorious America's Cup designs by Herreshoff. The 1893 America's Cup paintings were done one year before Buttersworth's death, and would be the last chronicling of the races done primarily in oil painting.